Builders' Forum Archives

Re: sailboats

people here have covered lots of ground have owned more than one wood Lighting

all wood Lightings ive ever seen were plank on frame I have never seen a plywood Lighting

International Lighting Class never realy was a home built boat

they are still being made in fiberglass very active class asn

( my last Lighting was made in the 50's was cedar plank on oak frame it's sail # was 7560 )

lots more Snipe's were home built and yes Snipes still beeing made in glass

so karl you want to go fast ? but not intrested in racing ?

heart set on building or do you just want to get on the water cheep

if you want to build I think the John's Skiff or the Core Sound 17 are straight forward boats the Core Sound 17 and 20 realy intresting home built boats the Windmill Class is fast and designed for the home builder

if you just want to sail on the cheep you might want to look in to a older one design boat

example there are lots of old well found sturdy wood Lightings for sale

Lighting racers do not want wood or old glass Lightings as they can not win against new glass boats same for Snipe class

often sell for less then 2,000 dollars lots of Lightings made so there are lots of Lighting parts and old sails to be had cheep

I sail a 53 year old wood Thistle wood Thistles hold their value as can still win Thistle class races

but older fiberglass Thistles can be had cheep also lots of parts about

build or buy you will want to go for a class or design that is active where you live

this way you will not get stuck with a orphan boat that you can not sell when you want to move on

nothing like geting stuck with boat you can not sell

check out local fleets where you live Thistle fleet #2 took me in and has been a great help even though I am not a racing kind of guy heck ive even been given a free very good (not race wining ) mainsail and tons of help and parts from the hard core racers in my fleet